Worcester, Mass. – Clark netminder Kate McGrath (Wilmington, Mass.) turned back a career-high 15 shots and Mel Melkonian (Worcester, Mass.) recorded a hat trick for the third straight game and the host Cougars defeated MIT, 4-1 in the NEWMAC field hockey opener for both teams on Saturday.

The win for Clark is their fifth in a row, while the loss for the Engineers is the second in their last three contests.

Meghan Lennon (Charlton, Mass.) got the ball rolling for the Cougars in the seventh minute when she took an Erin Murphy (Boxboro, Mass.) feed on a penalty corner and banged the back of the cage for the early 1-0 lead.

Melkonian then scored her first goal a little more than three minutes later with help from Talia Fish (Philadelphia, Pa.).

MIT (6-2, 0-1 NEWMAC) got on the board in the 20th minute when Elizabeth Dethy (Morristown, N.J.) connected with Maddy Wharton (Swarthmore, Pa.) to trim the lead to 2-1.

Clark (5-1, 1-0 NEWMAC) immediately grabbed the momentum back when Melkonian answered back with an amazing goal less than two minutes later for a comfortable 3-1 edge.

The only scoring that took place in the second half came when Melkonian converted a penalty shot in the 54th minute to record her 12th career hat trick.

She has scored at least one goal in every game this season and leads the NEWMAC with 14 goals and 30 points.

Clark returns to action on Thursday when they visit Western New England, while MIT travels to Nichols on Wednesday.